St. Joseph class turns tassels

The 129th class of St. Joseph Academy made the transition from high school life to adulthood Friday evening.

The class of 57 entered Flagler Auditorium just after 6 p.m., to a wealth of adoring, proud, teary eyed parents, relatives, friends and teachers.

"I feel a special bond with this class," Bishop Victor Galeone said to the graduates. "It was exactly 50 years ago, next week, that I graduated. The world you're about to face is not that much different than the one I faced years ago."

Galeone is the bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of St. Augustine.

Galeone explained that when he graduated, the Cold War confrontation was at its height, just as the war on terror is now. He said his graduation occurred at the tail end of the Korean War, and today, North Korea is "flexing its muscle again."

Galeone's challenge to the graduates: "dare to be different," because that is the only way they will be able to change the world today.

Sister Ann Kuhn, general superior of the Sisters of St. Joseph, was the commencement speaker.

"How proud you must be tonight," she said to the graduates and their families. "You have reached a milestone in your life. The world is open to you and there's no boundaries to stop you."

Sister Ann spoke of how today's world has lost sight of the importance of things and asked the graduating class to stop and remember what really matters.

"Run with the wind, but savor the moment," she said.

The class had two valedictorians, Sabrina Leigh Berger and Megan Teresa Taylor and one Salutatorian, Ericka Danielle Bancks.

"Tonight we will go through a rite of passage," Bancks said. Her address focused on the four years she and her classmates are leaving behind.

"Tonight will be the last night where we will all be dressed in uniformity," she said.

Berger asked her classmates to never let go of four things: faith, loved ones, a good work ethic and personal happiness.

"Challenge yourself to be a better person than you were yesterday," she said.

"(We should) do our duty in all things. We could not do more and never do less," was Taylor's message.

"It's starting to sink in that I'll never see any of these people again," said graduate Bethany Wallace. Wallace plans to attend St. Johns River Community College in the fall.